


The Little Storyteller

by DetectiveRoboRyan



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Genre: Est and Genny should hold hands, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Genny the Aspiring Friendfic Author, Girls Being Dorks, I havent finished echoes yet but i had plot bunnies so i spat thsi out, Let! Them! Be! Children!, Mentioned/Implied PTSD, Platonic Relationships, Sisterly bonding, kids being kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-11 15:02:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11150868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DetectiveRoboRyan/pseuds/DetectiveRoboRyan
Summary: "Celica will you beta my friendfic" --Genny, probablyWith some rare free time, Genny asks Celica to read her story. It's a good story, but the story isn't the point.





	The Little Storyteller

**Author's Note:**

> give genny a family you COWARDS....... let her hold hands w est and b sisters w celica n get adopted by celica's dads (brb writing tht exact thing)
> 
> anyway its 4am i wrote this in 3 hours and i regret my life coices

_Fists aching, the strong and noble knight stood her ground. Though the sky wept bitter tears that stung her cheeks, she stood fast— lance at the ready, boots hard on the emerald-colored grass that soaked in the blood of fallen friend and foe alike._  
  
_"You shan't come further!" she declared, hand outstretched as if to conjure a shield of blessed godly energy. But the brave knight Ser Astra was no mage, not for all the words she hurled at the darkness._  
  
_The dastardly rot of the enemies glowered, their presence like poison to the noble violet-haired knight. Her cerulean orbs scoured the battlefield for an opening— blast, nothing. Merely her and  her mount, and her trusty lance._  
_In a graceful leap, slender and toned legs landing astride the mount, she pulled on the reins with a battle-worn hand. Her mount screeched, cry splitting the sky as the lightning above, striking fear into the hearts of the enemies. Perhaps today she was alone, destined to return with none but herself to the campsite, but with the wings of her steed at her sides, she was invincible._  
  
"… _With a mighty cry, the valiant knight leapt forward, striking out with her_ — Genny, are you _sure_ this is a battle?"  
  
Genny frowned. "Of course it is," she said, though she wasn't too happy about the spell being broken with Celica's comment. "You can tell because there are enemies."  
  
"If there were enemies," Celica replied. "Then they'd be rushing Ser Astra with the intent to spear her through."  
  
Genny slammed her hands, open-palm, on the table. "They wouldn't!" she insisted. "They wouldn't, Ser Astra is a brave hero who would fight them all off!"  
  
"That's not very realistic, Genny," Celica commented.  
  
Genny pouted, folding her arms. "It's a _story_ ," she mumbled. "It doesn't _have_ to be realistic."  
  
Celica sighed, flipping through the pages of Genny's writing journal. It wasn't bad writing— flowery, sometimes, especially when describing the delicate structure of Ser Astra's facial bones and the glimmer of her "cerulean orbs," which were also azure, ocean, sky, sapphire, cornflower, indigo, and robin's-egg, sometimes all in the same paragraph. It was, at least, clear that Ser Astra was the hero of _A Tale of Lady-Knights and Maidens,_ even if the supporting characters' descriptions were plain at best in comparison to Ser Astra's and her love interest's, Sister Genevuire.  
  
Genny looked at Celica through her fluffy pink bangs. "Do you… like it?" she said timidly. "I, um… the first chapters aren't very good because I'm better at writing Commander Nerea and Lieutenant Jun now, but I like it."  
  
Celica smiled. Celica thought herself an honest woman who didn't dance around the truth, but she couldn't be rude about it, especially with Genny and especially when she was making _"you kicked my puppy"_ faces.  
  
"It's an exciting story so far," Celica promised. "But I'm only halfway through, so don't get _too_ eager and ruin the twists, alright?"  
  
Genny brightened. "Of course! You'll _never_ see it coming! Um— what do you think will happen?"  
  
Celica tapped her chin, thinking about the story so far. "Well, Commander Nerea seems competent, but she seems almost… _too_ perfect. I'm wondering if she's hiding something."  
  
"That's not it!" Genny burst out, unable to keep it a secret. "Commander Nerea is really nice and wonderful and good to Ser Astra and her whole company!"

Celica snorted. "Nobody's _that_ perfect," she said. "Hmm. Then does the one-eared sellsword have something to do with the rash of goblins strewn across the land? Or is it Lieutenant Joey, or— oh, I know! I bet Ser Masque isn't who he says he is! He's definitely suspicious to me."  
  
Genny fidgeted with the embroidery on her robe— not out of anxiety, but because she simply couldn't stay still with Celica expressing such an interest in the plot of her story. It was the first long story she'd finished, and it'd taken her all year! Adding in Ser Astra as the main hero of the story had been something she put in a quarter of the way through, but Celica hadn't commented on the sudden addition, if she'd noticed the shift in focus from Sister Genevuire, the kind but clever priestess.  
  
"Well, he's not," she admitted. "But-but-but he's not bad! He's just hiding! He's scared to be himself because he thinks Commander Nerea will spurn him!"  
  
Celica scoffed. "He's a coward, then," she said. "He should just come out with the truth. Really, everyone should. Then they can all stop fighting."  
  
Genny nodded sadly. "That's why there's so many people getting hurt, even amidst the Order," she admitted. "But that's why Commander Nerea is trying to stop it all!"  
  
Celica hummed, looking back at the book. "Whatever happens, it seems Ser Astra is intent to fix it all herself," she commented, turning the page.  
  
Genny scooted closer, ignoring the grass stains on her robe. "Keep reading," she urged. "Um— Ser Astra will be okay, I promise, but— but something really big happens at the end!"  
  
"Ooh, exciting," Celica commented. If having Genny pressed against her shoulder and clinging to her shirt bothered her, she didn't say. Truth be told, she didn't really mind— a little bit of friendly contact was nice every now and again.  
  
Celica kept reading. It was a nice day for it— her army had made camp for the day, so Genny, who had just finished her manuscript, had timidly approached Celica and asked if she wanted to review it. Her first reader, ever! Everyone knew Genny liked writing stories, but she'd never had anybody read them. _Definitely_ not!  
  
It was more than a little nerve-wracking. Genny chewed at the fingernails of the hand that wasn't clinging to Celia's shirt, rereading and mentally editing the words on the page and watching Celica anxiously for reactions. Despite Genny being there, Celica managed to focus on the scene rather well— reading a thrilling tale of brave Ser Astra, just, kind, beautiful, and righteous, fighting her way through an army of over a thousand goblin soldiers and facing off with Hjargus the Goblin-King.  
  
Genny gasped— clearly she was a faster reader than Celica. Though Celica soon knew what she was talking about, as Hjargus the Goblin-King raised his vile scepter and sent a bolt of magic straight through Ser Astra's chest!  
  
"My goodness," Celica managed, blinking and looking at Genny. "Ser Astra died, just— just like that?"  
  
Genny looked absolutely thrilled. "Yes!" she said exictedly. "Yes, Ser Astra died! Or, well— well, keep reading!"  
  
"You just _killed_ your _hero!"_ Celica exclaimed. "What about— about her sisters she left behind, Luna and Solaris? What about her friends in Commander Nerea's army? What about Sister Genevuire?"  
  
"Keep reading!" Genny urged, vibrating, grinning in absolute delight, nail-bitten hand papping Celica's shoulder. "You'll see!"  
  
Celica turned the page. From there, Sister Genevuire burst onto the battlefield, her sisterly robes disheveled and spoiled with the blood and grime of battlefield, staff clutched in her bloody fingernails. She let out a cry of grief and sorrow that _"rent the ears of the Goblin-King,"_ and then, in a single blow, burned the Goblin-King and all his followers to ashes on the bloody, rain-soaked battlefield. She cried over Ser Astra's body, rapidly cooling, and frantically tried to save what scraps of life were left. Alas, it was for naught.  
  
Celica frowned. "Genny, that's _awful_ ," she said, worried. "Why would you write about the hero dying?"  
  
Genny was grinning with rapt excitement-- the kind of excitement that is the property only of writers watching their friends suffer while reading their work. "You haven't finished yet," she insisted. "Keep reading!"  
  
Celica breathed. So Sister Genevuire knelt with her beloved Ser Astra in her arms, magic forgotten, trying to breathe warmth back into the knight's body even if it would take her life to do so. Celica, now wrapped wholly in the story, held a hand over her mouth as she read, eyes wide, and felt, raw and ragged, Sister Genevuire's pain. The rest of Genny's story definitely needed editing, and it was decidedly florid in places, but Celica couldn't say that she couldn't capture feeling. (Genny, meanwhile, watched this and felt herself inflate. She'd never thought that bringing somebody to tears would feel so good.)  
  
Sister Genevuire wept over Ser Astra's body. With all her being, she cried, again and again, the name of her beloved, and as her tears dotted Ser Astra's skin, suddenly the sun broke through the clouds, and sunshine illuminated Ser Astra's dying face. Warmth flooded back into her skin, blood to her cheeks, and she coughed, the magic that hit her fading with the wound in her chest. Celica let out an audible breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding as Sister Genevuire and Ser Astra embraced on the battlefield, swearing to one another that never again shall they part.  
  
Celica breathed, end of the chapter reached. "Wow," she said. "You really had me worried, Genny."  
  
Genny squealed and threw her arms around Celica, hugging tight in excitement. "It was good?" she asked, beaming at Celica. "It was good, right? I mean, I cried when writing about Ser Astra dying because it felt so real when I was writing it, but— but it came out really well, right?"  
  
Celica brushed some of Genny's curls from her eyes. "Of _course_ it did," she promised.  
  
Genny sighed in relief. "Thank goodness," she sighed. "I was so worried about Ser Est when writing it too, I—" she squeaked, realizing what she just said, and clapped her hands over her mouth.  
  
Celica raised a teasing eyebrow. "Ser Est?"  
  
"S-Ser Astra!" Genny insisted. "Th-that's what I said!"  
  
Celica smirked. "Of course," she said. "Ser Astra and her lover, Sister Genevuire— an awfully long name. Do people call her Genny?"  
  
Genny went red up to her hairline. "S-sometimes," she whispered. "I-if she _really_ likes them."  
  
Celica laughed. Genny pulled up the neckline of her robe and buried her face in it.  
  
"Oh, Genny, it's okay," she promised. "It's a wonderful story! I'm only teasing."  
  
Genny shook her head. "Nobody can _ever_ read it," she whimpered. "They'll all notice it's about me and Est in a fantasy world and they'll make fun of me for it!"  
  
"Genny, it's alright," Celica insisted, gently rubbing her back. "I didn't even notice until you slipped up and said Ser Est."  
  
Genny whined. "You're just being nice," she said miserably. "I can never write _anything_ ever again because it's all just silly stories about me and Est!"  
  
"It just means you want to have adventures and happiness with her," Celica promises. "Writing stories about things you want to happen isn't anything to be ashamed of if it helps you feel better."  
  
Genny cautiously peeked from under the neckline of her robe. "You think so, Celica?" she asked tearfully.  
  
"I promise," Celica replied, smiling reassuringly. "Writing stories makes you happy, right? And so does Est?"  
  
Genny nodded.  
  
"Then you can write all the stories with Est you want," Celica said. "And if you do decide to show anybody, and they give you grief for it, I'll set them right." She held up a fist, presumably with the intent to use it against these imaginary naysayers.  
  
Genny giggled, just a little, letting her neckline fall. She rubbed her eyes, feeling a bit foolish now. But it'd seemed like a big deal in the moment, so she'd dealt with it as such.  
  
She breathed. "I like writing stories," she said. "I like writing stories about people I know, too, because when it's a story, I control everything. And I can bring back people I love with the power of love if I want to, because it's a story."  
  
Celica nodded. "Even if you kill your hero?"  
  
"Well, she comes back," Genny insisted. "That's what makes it fun. It's my story, so I can do what I want."  
  
"Including making Sister Genevuire and Ser Aster kiss," Celica teased.  
  
Genny flushed. "Y-yeah, that too," she admitted. "I know my stories aren't real. But when I'm reading it or writing it, I can pretend they are."  
  
Celica nodded. There wasn't much she could say to that. Even if she found it teasably cute that Genny wrote stories about her girlfriend being a powerful knight with glistening violet hair and shimmering aquamarine eyes that could take out entire armies of goblins with one swing of her lance, Genny was right. Things would seem less scary if she was the one in control.  
  
"For what it's worth, Genny," Celica decided. "I'd gladly read all the rest of your stories."  
  
Genny's face lit up in a way that made wading through all the purple prose worth it. "You will?" she asked incredulously. "Really, Celica?"  
  
"Really," Celica promised. "Now how about I finish this one, first? Hopefully there are no more nasty tricks like the death of the hero up your sleeves."  
  
Genny giggled. "You'll see!" she sang. "Though you were kind of right about the one-eared sellsword being involved…"


End file.
